"new" parents

Gassy or not gassy?
Reflux or no reflux?
Zantac or Mylicon drops?
Swaddle or don't swaddle?
Eat dairy or dairy-free diet? (Me)
Snuggle to sleep or set-down to sleep?
Angry screams or uncomfortable screams?
Hold or don't hold?
Over-stimulated or over-tired?

You'd think we were first-time parents over here trying to figure out Miss Molly. She is a tough one that's for sure...not quite the 'laid-back' third kid that we had ordered. ;)
"This too shall pass" is the semi-annoying mantra that goes through my head on a daily (if not hourly) basis. Sadly I find myself wishing the time away and pining for the 3 month mark when we'll start getting a 'return' for our work~ i.e. smiles, coos, etc.
I just read back on older blog posts about Sydney and found some comfort in them knowing that although she too had a 'personality' from the start she has become an amazingly fun kid. I will hold onto that for dear life for the continued weeks of daily screaming fits and frusterating middle-of-the-night episodes that are the norm over here right now.
I love you Miss Molly but I'm really ready to enjoy my time with you too!

Adjusting.

I haven't really come up for air quite yet but since I have a tiny minute to upload some pics to print I thought I'd quickly blog.
We're still in the 'adjusting' phase over here. Brad and I are trying to survive on very little sleep and the girls are trying to figure out where they still fit in with Mommy since I'm holding Molly most of the time.
Little peanut is adjusting in her own way too. We are still learning what she does and doesn't seem to like and many things are very different from the other girls! We've already noticed that she likes to be held, ALOT, and prefers to fall asleep in our arms as opposed to being put down to fall asleep on her own. Different. She's not crazy about being swaddled tightly with her arms pinned. Different. She doesn't seem to want the pacifier, likes to nurse often and sometimes just for comfort. Different! She gets over-stimulated if passed around too much or if she's tired and will let you know it! She is definitely not the 'laid-back' third child that we had expected or joked about; although I know it's still early to tell for sure. We can still hope for a little less drama right?
We are all just loving her though and proclaim often how cute she is. In fact, a cute quote by Sydney the other day as she was standing next to Molly was; "Mommy, she is a Honey-Beaner". Love it.

Even though these first few weeks of adjustment are rough ~I'm pretty sure we'll keep her. =)

Adding to the Hen House

We are overjoyed to announce the arrival of Molly Violet Kreider~

She finally entered the world after 12 hours of labor on 11/06/09 @ 12:40 p.m. and is perfect and beautiful at 8# 1 oz, 19 inches, & 2# of black hair just like Daddy...

...who is already calculating the costs of the clothing, proms, and weddings to come. =)

"Last" night out!

Here's just a pic of Brad and I before his birthday dinner out last night. Me at 41 weeks pregnant! I got quite a few looks at the restaurant and we even got 2 free desserts to-go after chatting up the general manager about how we were celebrating the near arrival of our baby and Brad's birthday.

Gilly's at the B.O.B. was fantastic. I had halibut & Brad had his free Lobster dinner and we also split a tasty lump crab appetizer so Brad could have both of his favorite shellfishes. =)

We also had a great time just talking and reminicing about the previous 'birth'-days that we had with the girls.

Now we're just counting down the hours until 9:30 tonight! We can't wait to meet you baby #3~

Happy 35th Daddy!

Okay so we try not to worry too much about Lysteria over here when we're baking. We're all about licking spoons.

Seriously what is more fun than having bowls full of chocolate, coconut, candy sprinkles and nerds to decorate with? Pretty sure only 1/4 of the toppings ended up on the cupcakes...

November is going to be the month of birthdays in this house! Today is Brad's and because we're doing a date night out tonight I opted to celebrate with the girls on Monday. To be honest, I was so consumed with the upcoming due date that I wasn't even thinking about doing a cake or celebration with the kids until Raegan piped up on Sunday and asked Brad what kind of cake he wanted us to make for him this year. Well, as most of you know if you've followed blog over the years, Brad is a Red Velvet fan and so this is the one time of the year I'll make it for him. The first year I made it (when we were just dating and I was willing to go the extra mile) =) my mom and I made it from scratch and let me just tell you that after seeing the damage that the mass amount of red food coloring did to all of our bowls and spoons I realized that boxed mix was just as good and slightly less messy.

This year I opted for an even simpler route of canned cream cheese frosting and cupcakes in lieu of a large cake and it was definitely the way to go. The girls LOVED helping to make & especially to decorate them. I think they've been on a permanent sugar/artificial color buzz since Monday.

The two cutest things about this activity/celebration were when Raegan warned me to be extra careful as I was loading the cakes into the fridge after we made them. Last year I flipped and dropped his entire cake just as I was putting it in the fridge~ and this was literally after RG and I spent a half hour decorating it and making it just "so"~ we were both mortified! And leave it to her, of course, to remember.

Then secondly, I was making a big deal about the cupcakes being a 'surprise' for Daddy and that we would have them when we were done with dinner but to make sure we didn't say anything before hand. Well wouldn't you know as soon as Brad came in the door from work Raegan ran to him screaming with excitement and said "Daddy! I hid your card in the living room and your cupcakes are hiding in the refrigerator for a surprise!" We got a big chuckle out of that. You gotta love kids.

So happy 35th to Brad today! Looking forward to our date night tonight and free lobster dinner at Gil's Fish House at the B.O.B.

Clearly Comfortable

Had my last (probably ever) pre-natal doctor's appointment this morning! (sniff sniff)

They wanted to do a 'non-stress test' because I'm overdue just to make sure that baby is still doing fine, has a good heartbeat, etc.

I told the nurse I found it slightly funny because I think if baby was at all 'stressed' it would not still be so cozy in my womb! To prove the point even further I ended up having to drink a juice box mid-way through the test because babes was just snoozing away and not moving enough. And wouldn't you know it, after about 4 sips of juice and 5 minutes, he/she started moving all over and cooperating nicely. Typical of my children I said...they need bribery to perform. =)

Anyways, in other good news I was able to reschedule my induction time from 3:00 a.m. Friday morning to 9:30 p.m. Thursday night! Very happy about the fact that now we can just drop the kiddos off at our friends' house and then head right down to the hospital~ I'm banking on the fact that both RG and Syd took awhile to progress and maybe I'll even get a few hours of rest before 'active' labor starts. But either way, little babers #3 will be in our arms Friday the 6th at some point and I am just so excited! Lots of mixed emotions today in anticipation of what is to come but mostly just can't wait to find out all about this little bugger!